OPINION: Led Zeppelin Top Five

Led Zeppelin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

by Eoghan M Lyng

This is, quite possibly, the hardest article that I have ever had to write.

Having been a hardcore Zeppelin fan since I was fourteen years old, it pains me to try and decide what their finest compositions were.

Having come up with several drafts, the finished result still feels incomplete.

If this article could have included more songs, "When the Levee Breaks", "Ten Years Gone", "Ramble On", "Trampled Under Foot" and "Dazed and Confused" would almost certainly have been included.

In fact, anything from "Led Zeppelin" (1969) to "Physical Graffiti" (1975) represent a consistently high prolific standard that no other band, not even the Beatles, could rival.

To compile a list that includes only five songs, therefore, is understandably heartbreaking, but the task has been achieved at a great expense. The chosen songs were chosen out of artistic merit, musical influence and technical brilliance. Led Zeppelin`s five finest songs, therefore, are:

#5 Black Dog (featured on their untitled fourth album - 1971): Written by Jones/Page/Plant

Inspired in part by "Oh Well (Parts 1 and 2)" by Fleetwood Mac, this rocker features vocalist Robert Plant singing almost operatically over a backlash of duelling guitars.

The riff originated with bassist John Paul Jones, who initially boasted that the timing was so irregular that only he could play along to it. Although it may be Jones`s riff, it is Jimmy Page who truly shines on this track.

Reverting from scratchy rhythm guitars to melodic lead parts in an effortless manner, the track sounds both psychedelic and bluesy. Plant truly plays the part of a hungry, sexual deviant when singing his a Capella leads.

One of Zeppelin`s highlights in concert, it is a rock song that has rarely been rivalled in the forty years since its initial release. Strangely enough, the only reference to a dog in the song is at the beginning when Page creates a barky reverberated sound effect.

#4 No Quarter (Houses of The Holy - 1973): Written by Jones/Page/Plant

The word multi-instrumentalist is over-used these days, but in the case of John Paul Jones, it is justifiable. Capable of playing bass guitar, guitar, piano, mellotron, flutes, recorders, mandolin and other keyboard instruments too numerous to mention, he could have created his own one man band.

This song would become one of his staple solo opportunities in concert. Containing an eerie keyboard sound and featuring lyrics that deal with medieval war craft, it features Zeppelin at their proggiest. It is truly a breathtaking piece of work.

The highlight of the song is the point in which Page`s distorted guitar arrives as an orchestration for Jones`s keyboard playing. An amazing song and a nice break from their usual guitar orientated work.

#3 Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin 2 - 1969): Written by Bonham/Jones/Page/Plant/Dixon

If there was ever a song that defined the band, it was this song. Featuring a metallic hammer on from Page`s guitar playing and an exuberant vocal performance from Robert Plant, the song would become Zeppelin`s first true classic.

Utilising the DAGGAD tuning that would be used on successive songs such as the two underneath this column; the song is the type of anthem every band craves.

Unfortunately for the band, the aggression in which Page played the riff gave critics the long awaited opportunity to label a band as a heavy metal band.

This is an erroneous statement: John Bonham`s loose backbeat drumming and John Paul Jones`s bass playing display a dance groove that James Brown could have used. You would not find that on any Black Sabbath songs!

The song is also noted for its risque bridge. Commonly referred to as "The Orgasm Section", it features Plant moaning over a bunch of hammers being hit, plus a Theremin being used for windy effect.

Before this song, Jimmy Page was an adequate producer. This song showed that he was, in fact, a technical genius. For years, audiences would recognise this song as the opening theme for Top of The Pops, which was ironic considering that the band had no interest in the show!

#2 Kashmir (Physical Grafitti - 1975): Written by Bonham/Page/Plant

Mother of God! The sixth track on Zeppelin`s double LP Physical Graffiti is an orchestrated work of genius. A song with an eastern feel, the song has been noted by Robert Plant on many occasions as his personal favourite Zeppelin song.

And he has every reason to be proud of the song: Kashmir has the perfect ingredients of a great song. Featuring a drum beat that uses the loud dynamics that would befit a stringed orchestra, a multitude of colourful guitars, lyrics of a mystic nature and an Indian orchestra, the song is a grandiose epic.

The only member who does not receive a song writing credit is John Paul Jones, which is harsh considering that his keyboard playing has an awful lot to do with the oriental qualities of the song. Despite the multitude of instruments, each musician can be heard clearly.

John Bonham, in particular, is very impressive. His mighty crashes are the stuff of Gods. To date, no drummer has been able to replicate his sound since his death in 1980, making these fantastic drumming moments more precious to saviour.

#1 Stairway to Heaven (featured on their untitled fourth album - 1971): Written by Page/Plant

It is an awful shame that Jimmy Page and Robert Plant are rarely praised as a song writing unit in the same way that John Lennon-Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger-Keith Richards, Burt Bacharach/Hal David and Johnny Marr/Morrissey are.

The fact of the matter is that these two complemented each other in many ways. Plant`s lyrical genius was the perfect counterpart to Page`s brilliant melody writing.

Over seven albums, they used their brilliant partnership to its greatest potential. But nowhere was it more successful than on Zeppelin`s magnum opus "Stairway to Heaven".

This is a work that procures the usage of a twelve string acoustic guitar, three recorders (performed by John Paul Jones), an electric piano and two electric guitars. Oh, and the greatest guitar solo ever recorded.

Jimmy Page must have sold his soul to the devil to come up with a solo that has the greatest tone, tempo and dynamic of any rock song. Then there are the lyrics.

On top of Page`s plaintive opening acoustic guitar, Plant sings about a lady who is so snobbish that she thinks all "that glitters is gold", who can "with a word, get what she came for".

Commencing as a criticism of snobbery (similar to Bob Dylan`s "Like A Rolling Stone"), it turns into an oratorio that talks about the mysteries of life.

Containing some fantastic images - "faces of those who stand lonely", "spirit crying", "voices of those who stand looking" - Plant rivals Roger Waters and Pete Townshend as rock`s finest lyricist.

Jones and Bonham shine also, creating rhythm parts that support, but do not overthrow, the songs melody. The four geniuses within the band (Page, Plant, Jones and Bonham) came up with what is possibly the greatest song of all time.

It is unlikely that Queen would have come up with Bohemian Rhapsody had it not been for Stairway, nor would Radiohead have released Paranoid Android either.

Stairway has been covered by artists as diverse as Frank Zappa and Rolf Harris. In 1971, Led Zeppelin unveiled a song that could only be described in one way: magical. Forty one years later, it still maintains that spell on its listeners.

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Woodstock

by Amy Ferguson, Do You Remember: https://www.doyouremember.com/memories/woodstock--2 

As I grew older and developed my own sense of style and taste, I looked to the ‘60’s and ‘70s for some sort of direction and instantly became fascinated with the things I discovered.

I started listening to the local oldies radio station which exposed me to bands like The Beatles and Cream.

I did school projects on Don McLean’s song “American Pie,” where I discovered that the father, son and holy ghost didn’t refer to any specific religion but acted as a metaphor to describe the deaths of three famous musicians Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly and JP Richardson.

Rewind to age eight sitting in a hotel room in Raleigh, North Carolina, and watching La Bamba, which is the first time I found out who Ritchie Valens really was.

The summer going into my freshman year of college, I would climb onto my parent’s roof with an old Sony boombox and call into the radio station to request songs like “Be my Baby” by the Ronettes, which I now associate with sunburns and Panama Jack.

My yearbook quote was Lennon and the posters hung on the walls in my room were Hendrix. I hummed Jefferson Airplane and fell in love for the first time with a boy who let me borrow Bob Dylan’s memoir “Chronicles” (I still have the book).

As the summer faded and romances fizzled like stale soda, I entered a new place. I moved to a small town on the west coast of Florida to attend school. This is where I met Jerry Garcia.

My friend Ashley, whose closet was a swirl of Tie-Die shirts and flowy skirts, burned hours’ worth of the Grateful Dead onto CD’s. We watched films like the Festival Express and swooned over Janis Joplin’s raspy voice.

We didn't go out. Not because there was nothing to do, but because we rather drink in the company of our friends (who were mostly dead) and dance to the sounds of their voices.

During spring semester, we met Mindy. Mindy was the mother of one of our friends, Chris. She told us about the time she had sliders with Neil Young on Ft. Lauderdale beach and how he fell in love with her.

She showed us old photographs. She was a thin brunette, captured in a thick fur coat, walking down the streets of Greenwich Village. She was too beautiful. I imagined all rock stars must have fallen in love at first glance.

But I was more so fascinated about the time she ran away alone to Woodstock when she was sixteen, and how she roamed around naked on acid petting goats. That night, we talked for hours over glasses of wine and second-hand smoke.

I haven’t seen her since then, nor have I seen Ashley, because the following month, I moved farther north. It’s been a few years since then, and I still think about Mindy and the stories she told us that night.

Part of me wonders if she was just a lush, soaking up our youth because hers had nearly evaporated, reveling in the way our eyes lit up when the words “Woodstock” echoed in her big, empty house. But maybe she was there (although some details must have been forged).

Either way, I realize that the truth was unimportant because telling too much of it would tarnish the place she had created for us. Her story was a vessel to a world we would never experience but only dreamed of being a part of.

It’s been said that each time you remember something, it changes. And while the memory of the jacket my grandmother wore the night of my parent’s 25th anniversary may have been black instead of yellow, it’s the altering of small details that elicit a brighter picture, allowing us to revisit a colorful place full of wonder and excitement.

So, I have never been to Woodstock, at least not physically, but I one day hope to visit a tangible place that offers an insatiable atmosphere prompted by pure spontaneity; an event built on the facets of good music and good people that all generations will remember.

SPECIAL REPORT: Keeping Music Live: Government's Live Music Office Should be Welcomed

by Jane Davidson, University of Western Australia

Encouraging live music through initiatives such as the newly-announced National Live Music Office makes good social, cultural and economic sense (shutterstock)

Federal arts minister Tony Burke this week announced the government’s commitment to setting up a National Live Music Office. Burke said the taskforce will:

… partner with governments, local councils, communities, businesses, musicians and songwriters on how to lift barriers to ensure more acts can perform at venues around the country.

Ianto Ware, an experienced musician and coordinator, will manage the office, which is to be administered by the Australian Performing Rights Association (APRA) and funded to the tune of A$560,000 over the next three years.

Each state is set to have a contemporary music performance ambassador representing their interests. Looking at these facts, a broad consultative approach is anticipated.

The agenda is aimed at addressing a range of strict Australian planning regulations, which include noise restrictions, tough security requirements and prohibitive fees for liquor licensing.

Along with other regulatory conditions, these restrictions jeopardise the sustainability of live performance venues. Invigorating and developing a regional touring plan is another hot topic for consideration.

APRA statistics indicate that venue-based contemporary live music contributes to a $1.2 billion industry. This services some 42 million patrons and offers significant employment opportunities. Economically, this provides a very strong argument to keep live venues.

Flick through any article on the contemporary music business and you will learn about the financial drivers of music production and dissemination. The Live Music Office will therefore focus on musical supply and profit.

Of course, as many bloggers are keen to report, the contemporary live music landscape shifts at a fairly rapid pace.

Some of the musical changes themselves may be reactions to the regulation and restriction described above. Whatever the case, the once staple musical diet of loud gigs at the pub has certainly waned.

Smaller and more intimate performance spaces airing grassroots setups have entered the scene. Since positive artistic changes often arise in reaction to dominant trends and come from the most obscure corners of society, the hope is that the office will develop a plan to encourage that ever-varying creative pulse.

The proposed work of the office has some community focus. Perhaps from this, important social and financial goals will emerge. When Hoodoo Gurus lead singer and NSW Live Music Ambassador Dave Faulkner heard of his role, he commented:

People gathering together, making and enjoying music is a spiritual experience as old as humanity itself. Music unites us all.

Faulkner is correct. Compelling research increasingly demonstrates that music’s function is founded on the communion it offers people. Consider the sung utterances and lilting bodily rocking which develop in a mutual way between adult and infant.

These behaviours offer adaptive value for both participants in the relationship, nurturing crucial feelings of emotional connection and attachment.

The spontaneous song and dance of a toddler is an extension of infant-directed musical mutuality. These musical behaviours are elaborated in the adult world in socially ritualised contexts. These include group singing and playing of musical instruments.

Contemporary music is a “uniting” socio-cultural experience. Its cultural place makes it the most pervasive of all musical forms.

We’ve all seen audiences coordinating with the rhythms and harmonies of their favourite artists: they sing, weep, and laugh in the shared musical space. It is a very different experience to the iPod.

The way we consume music may be changing but live music remains an important economic and cultural phenomenon (AAP/T Nearmy)

Live music provides a space for performers and audience to participate in an unfurling dialogue. It is a powerful social practice, but I wouldn’t be limiting the encouragement of live venues for contemporary music only. All musical genres have live performance value.

Indeed, the practice of music therapy is offered across a range of musical forms. From the consulting room to the community hall there is indisputable evidence of improved well-being. Moods can be lifted and concentration increased as a direct consequence of musical engagement.

Live music can also have a much broader meaning than offering good gigging venues. They provide opportunities for artists and audiences to communicate. Research shows that the benefits of music are significantly intensified when you make the music yourself.

For example, when seniors who had never previously participated in music joined a singing group, they presented great benefits.

After two years of participation they had made fewer visits to their GPs when compared with their friends who participated in other forms of activity. They also reported feeling more positive and more physically exercised than prior to their music-making experiences.

Music-making places considerable demands on the performer’s human central nervous system. Evidence shows the effects on brain plasticity are more pronounced in musicians than among those engaged in other skilled activities, especially those who commence music participation earlier in life.

So let’s encourage live music spaces. But let’s also offer support and opportunity to people across all generations, backgrounds, interests and musical tastes to enable them to learn to make music themselves. Investing in good music education makes good social, cultural and economic sense.

Jane Davidson has received a number of ARC grants and is deputy director at an ARC Centre of Excellence.


This article was originally published at The Conversation. Read the original article.

BOOK REVIEW: "For Sake of Nation" by Terry Cerata - on the Kennedy Assassination

by Terry Cerata

Possibly no crime has been as written about, debated, or studied as the killing of John F. Kennedy, 35th president of the United States of America.

With the possible exception of his alleged slayer's murder no individual death has been as photographed, filmed and, possibly, audio recorded as well. In the long pantheon of historic acts his killing stands out. For many it's still viewed as an unsolved crime.

If there are any events which have received similar examinations, the Second World War, the American Civil War, for instance, they, though undoubtedly more significant in importance and influence have nonetheless not shared in the positively obsessive concern the JFK assassination has experienced.

Like Abraham Lincoln's murder the crime of November 22, 1963 has been told, repeated, told, and repeated again by legions of others for many decades, with no apparent end in sight.

Unlike the 16th president's demise, however, Kennedy's death has many radically different versions.

Whether or not John Booth and his ragtag cabal of misfits were independent players, mercenaries out to collect a bounty offered by a defeated confederacy, or mere pawns, Lincoln's manner of death has never been in dispute.

Whereas Kennedy's end is not only surrounded in a fog of enigmas from the who and the why, but the how as well. There's not even agreement on the number of bullets which struck the man, let alone the number of assassins.

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary since its occurrence.

And even with the tens of thousands of books, articles, documentaries, and movies espousing whatever angle their authors contrive, proclaiming to conclusively reveal the unadulterated details of this affair, it's apparent the murder's resolution is unresolved for most who still share an interest in it.

Five decades is quite a long time for something to remain a mystery. Particularly one of an event so public as this. Polls and surveys are periodically presented to the public on the Kennedy assassination, revealing a belief that some sort of conspiracy, or not, was behind it.

No more information than that, however. Nothing specific about exactly why such a faith, pro or con, persists, or what depth of knowledge the respondent actually possesses to justify such an opinion.

Merely "a majority of Americans believe this," or 70-odd percent are convinced of that. No more enlightening than chat room blogs. But of course it's never really meant to be.

When the topic of his assassination is highlighted on television, for example, invariably the aim is to ridicule those who harbor views contrary to the official conclusion of a lone gun killer, by the name of Lee Harvey Oswald.

Even if a substantial portion of the various eyewitnesses to events surrounding the crime had a very different story to tell. Kennedy's murder has largely been presented to the public by media reps for entertainment value, not for knowledge.

Simply a device to generate an audience for the purpose of pushing more snack foods and car wax. And that's the other reason this matter is still with us - the media and its collective lax of integrity.

Performers playing the role of journalists, to distract and misinform the ignorant masses. Almost from the beginning John Kennedy's murder was presented to the public as the awful but aberrant deed of some sad unfortunate ne'er-do-well with an ill-defined motive. A nutcase did it. End of story.

No literary presentation has genuinely satisfied the flocks with the definitive expression on the Kennedy killing, not even the work which essentially started it all: The Warren Report.

It appears whatever offering by whichever author on this matter will not fully convince everyone the truth has been revealed, be it by respected investigators, or by smarmy opportunists.

So why should you spend your valuable time wading through yet another tome on this well-trod topic by yet another author whom you've never heard of, and whose credentials may be suspect?

Essentially the answer by now should be self-evident: it isn't important who I am, or who anyone else is for that matter, but whether an honest and reasonable argument has been made which answers hard questions with either indisputable facts, or at the very least intelligent responses.

Earl Warren, Arlen Spector, and Gerald Ford are all well-known people; people whose version of the Kennedy assassination has been judged by most who know it as lacking integrity.

Likewise, authors of thick books on this crime who have name recognition in areas some may view as relevant to understanding how crimes, and particularly murders, are committed have also been scrutinized and have generally fared no better.

It's not reputations, but contributions. Not the messenger but the message is what matters most.

Numerous voices over the years have been quite vague on the explanation of who killed John Kennedy, starting with the panel of esteemed gentlemen for the Warren Commission, their view being that a man named Lee Harvey Oswald was the killer, yet never really ironed down who he was or what actually motivated him to slay the President, other than a meandering, foggy profile cut from the worst fevered fantasies that bunker-addled conservative Americans conjure.

He was a Marxist who worshipped Fidel Castro and espoused the virtues of the Soviet Union, and whose reason for doing it were somewhat unclear but as Oswald was unbalanced (never mind that there's no germane evidence supporting this) that's to be expected.

For the Warren reporters Oswald murdered simply for no reason at all, but what does it really matter as he was crazy.

Conspiracy adherents have not necessarily been any better with their indictments of groups delineated with comic book names like "the shadow government," or "the secret team," or "the powerful elite," without actually naming any specific person within these imagined coteries.

It's simply left to the reader of these writer's words to pick their poison. I'm surprised that "the dark empire" hasn't yet made the list. And of those few who do name names the connections are often an embarrassment in logic, or should be so for those making such claims.

Yet it must also be acknowledged that it has been largely a dedicated cadre of intelligent "nobodies" who are greatly responsible for the truths and facts about this murder which we can and have come to appreciate.

The obvious fact that Kennedy's throat wound was meant to be a head wound makes clear the plan was one bullet fired from a high velocity rifle through his skull. Had this projectile struck it's meant for target there would have been no need for more gunfire.

As the presidential limousine descended the slight incline and curve of Elm Street the bullet intended to blow JFK's brains out went instead through the automobile's windshield. The result of the gunman over compensating for the moving target, tracking his quarry too far down.

The missile then passed John Connelly, sitting directly in front of the President, before entering Kennedy's throat, never exiting his body.

That the bullet evidently hit its target after penetrating the thick windshield, and that there was no known nor reported bullet damage to the car's backseat or trunk, and no damage to the closely following Secret Service vehicle presents compelling evidence that a high velocity rifle fired a missile into the President, which then lodged in his upper torso.

Somewhat similar to the fatal injury suffered by Martin Luther King, but with considerably less devastation.

Observe the famous Abraham Zapruder home movie of the murder.

As the limousine emerges from behind the freeway sign, as Kennedy clutches at his injury, what is John Connelly doing? What does it really look like? A man responding to near fatal bullet injuries to the right of his body, as the official version assumes? Or a man reacting as if something has just passed his left arm?

A through-and-through bullet hole in the car's windshield was detected by numerous onlookers at Parkland Memorial Hospital minutes later.

Some with weapons experience insisted that the hole indicated a bullet shot into the limousine from the front (Secret Service representatives would subsequently display a series of images of several shattered limousine windshields in an effort to discredit eyewitness claims of a single hole).

There's at least one photograph made public showing the windshield purportedly before its removal from the limousine with what appears to be a large crack. Not a complete hole. This photo isn't particularly clear however.

Evalea Glanges, then a second year medical student - and avid hunter, stated the hole was clean through, without cracks, as would be the result from a "high velocity bullet."

The hole was so small that she hadn't immediately noticed it, even after visually searching the body of the car for quite a while.

Some federal agents, Dallas Police, Ford Motor Company technicians, and other eyewitnesses would likewise reveal to researchers that they too saw something similar to Ms. Glanges observation.

Plainly if what witnesses stated and this photo suggest is accurate, a bullet hole just slightly left and near even to the rearview mirror (from JFK's perspective), Kennedy's and Connelly's respective postures to that hole, the angle and location of the car's position on Elm Street at the moment JFK is hit, places a rifleman left-front (southwest) of the limousine.

Undoubtedly many of you will disagree with this premise. I simply ask again, what is Connelly actually doing at exactly the same instant Kennedy reacts to his trauma?

As tragic as John Kennedy's murder was it is necessary still to see the Zapruder film of it in order to get a reasonably factual appreciation of this crime.

Otherwise you allow yourself to be at the mercy of others and their agendas (including mine), describing what they think - or want you to think, is revealed in it.

Such as attempts to convince you that if Kennedy was sitting and tilted a certain way, and if Connelly was turned and bent another way, than one bullet could have done what the lone-nutters insist it did.

Or that the minor difference between elevations of JFK's and the governor's seats made a Texas School Book Depository building trajectory feasible. Theories be damned. Seeing the film for yourself matters.

You'll witness how others in the limousine behave the instant bullets strike. In particular you'll see the actions, or lack thereof, the two Secret Service agents seated at front display. Which may give you reason to question the missile through the windshield claim I've made.

These trained bodyguards appear to notice nothing as presumably noticeable as a bullet smashing through the windshield. I'll give you that.

However, you might also observe how these professional protectors seem pretty much oblivious of anything else shortly afterward as well: of Governor and Mrs. Connelly screaming immediately behind them, for example.

One, John Connelly, heard by several bystanders, yelling in terror, "My God! They're going to kill us all!" And Jacqueline Kennedy shrieking, "No, no, no!!" More sharp noises. In addition to a fellow agent running desperately after them from behind. You know, someone else might have easily construed these as clues.

As a minor digression, one of the legends which has grown around the Zapruder film is that it was first shown to a national American audience on "Good Night America," a television talk show on ABC hosted by Geraldo Rivera.

He and others have claimed, and continue to claim, that Rivera was the first to air this movie nationwide. Those with poor research skills have repeated this fiction.

I guess this is an example of one of the benefits of age, since I personally remember Tom Snyder was in fact the first to air this historic film coast to coast on his late night/early morning talk show "Tomorrow" on NBC in 1975.

Little mention was made it would be showing, as my memory serves. I didn't see it then.

The second person to present this essential piece of evidence was Lou Gordon, who hosted a nationally syndicated late night talk show based in Detroit. This is when I first viewed it, and I particularly remember the gasps from his live audience when the instant Kennedy's death occurred.

I lived in San Francisco at the time, so this was by definition "national." The second time I experienced that same televised response from an audience was from Rivera's show (maybe the distinction was originally meant to be understood as the first "primetime network" airing).

At best he was the third person to air the film nationwide.

It's impossible to know with absolute certitude when or in what sequence subsequent bullets were fired, other than the death bullet, in my opinion.

The projectiles which followed Kennedy's throat wound, not necessarily in the order presented here, came from the Dal-Tex Building, directly across Houston Street from the Texas School Book Depository Building, behind and high from the two gunmen situated at the rear of their prey.

Based on what do I make such an assertion?

The evidence from my perspective is no better than the evidence others have claimed which contradicts it, by "proving" the bullets paths cleanly back to where Mr. Oswald was said to be, by the Warren Commission defenders.

I could show you photos, draw lines to buildings, and do the many other routines you may have come to expect from people discussing this subject. But it really wouldn't prove a thing.

Even if you took surveyor's tools and personally measured what you could at the actual murder site, you'd only get a little closer to the truth, but no more. My main testimony is in what makes more sense to me than not.

It's time to get real. Nearly all of the actual evidence related to this matter was abused through purposeful neglect, and apparent destruction long, long ago. You honestly can't make your case without the tangible items people have talked and talked about over these many years.

A conspiracy can't be proven. But neither can the single gun theory. What can be done is to make a very persuasive presentation which doesn't require exaggerated notions, or ridiculous lies. Or any lie.

This was after all simply a murder. By an orchestrated ambush, but still just a murder. Beings from another galaxy didn't happen to involve themselves in this crime with their big brains, and technology beyond the grasp of puny Earthlings.

This homicide is not all that complicated, aside from the demonstrable subterfuge and deceit by certain others. It's truly not so difficult to understand.

Excerpt from the book "For Sake of Nation" by Terry Cerata, available on Amazon Kindle here at http://www.amazon.com/For-Sake-of-Nation-eBook/dp/B00B4A292C

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MOVIE REVIEW: Allan Ginsberg - Howl: What’s an Angel-Headed Hipster?

by Cristina Owen, Chronicles of a Travel Addict: http://chroniclesofatraveladdict.com/2011/11/13/whats-an-angel-headed-hipster/

Ginsberg & Cassady, 1955

I was watching “Howl” last night, the movie starring James Franco as Allen Ginsberg.

It is comprised of three main narratives: Allen being interviewed in his apartment, Lawrence Ferlinghetti being tried in court for publishing Ginsberg’s poem “Howl” - which was considered obscene - and a trippy animation vision of the poem, word by word.

There are also minor flashback scenes in which Allen is portrayed with Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, and Peter Orlovsky, his lifelong partner.

While I think the animated part doesn’t transition well with the rest of the movie - in my opinion, it interrupts the flow with its psychedelic imagery, but it still adds to the movie in a way.

Eric Drooker’s drawing is pretty cool, and James Franco reads “Howl” in its entirety, familiarizing the viewer with Ginsberg’s poem. Overall, I think this movie has a lot of merit.

First of all, even though this wasn’t a Blockbuster movie (and thank god for that), it’s a good introduction to who Allen Ginsberg was and what he was all about.

I’m not sure how many people (who aren’t poetry aficionados) know who he was, but I think that people who are interested in literature, 20th century American History, homosexuality, and censorship of the press should definitely take a look at it.

For those of you who don’t know, Allen Ginsberg was a Jewish poet (amongst many other things) famously inspired by Walt Whitman. He grew up in Newark and became a notable part of the Beat Generation, both on the east and west coast.

Beginning in the late 1940s, after the Korean War, this group of writers explored a new type of writing in which traditional form was abandoned, stream-of-conciousness thought patterns were embraced, and “first thought, best thought” was adopted - self-editing was largely abandoned.

The Beats challenged the status quo, especially the prescribed notion of domesticity, and delved into a lifestyle filled with jazz, drugs & alcohol, travel, and lots of literature.

Among this group was William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Gregory Corso, Herman Huncke, Neal Casssady and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

Among these notions of domesticity that Ginsberg eventually fought against was the idea of mandatory heterosexuality. Being openly gay in the 1940s & 1950s and writing so frankly about it was something that, to me, makes him such an important figure in history.

In his younger years, the desire to appear “normal” (haunted by his mother’s intermittent stays in mental hospitals and eventual lobotomy, it would make sense for anyone in that situation to desire normalcy) led to him to conceal his feelings for other males.

It wasn’t until he was in his early twenties that he painfully struggled to put his shyness aside and express his male desire. One of the main people responsible for helping Allen accept his own sexuality was Neal Cassady.

While Cassady himself was straight, he helped Allen embrace his love and desire. This is a minor theme in the movie, and Cassady - the “cocksman”, and “Adonis of a thousand lays” - is a large part of the poem “Howl.”

Much clearer and graphic of an example of their love affair was Ginsberg’s “Many Loves,” which in my opinion is one of Ginsberg’s most tender poems.

It reads: “So gentle the man, so sweet the moment, so kind the thighs that nuzzled/ against me smooth-skinned powerful, warm by my legs/ That my body shudders and trembles with happiness, remembering …”.

Their love affair did not last long, as Cassady wanted to remain platonic friends and pursue his many women.

Another notable, and much more dominant, theme in the movie is that of censorship. As mentioned, a good third of the movie takes place in court with Lawrence Ferlinghetti and his lawyer.

Many people considered literature experts are tried, and they are asked to explain the literary validity of the poem “Howl”. Because of the freedom of speech we enjoy today in the US, it is difficult to fathom that just sixty or so years ago, people were jailed because of what they said or wrote.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, one of the Beat writers, created City Lights because it was near impossible for his friends to publish anything that they wrote due to the language they used.

The profanity, obscenity, and supposed lack of moral integrity banned Ginsberg and others from being published.

Once “Howl” was published under the City Lights Books label in 1956, Ferlinghetti was arrested and tried for accounts of obscenity the poem contained. For more information on Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights Books, please see: http://www.citylights.com/ferlinghetti/.

The questions that the literary experts are asked during trial are ridiculous. Do you know what this poem is trying to say? Do you think the words used in the poem are necessary to convey what the writer was trying to say? Do you think this poem will influence literature in fifty years? What’s an “angel-headed hipster”?

Of course, anyone who knows anything about poetry will know that all of these questions are completely stupid and bizarre.

In poetry, what the poet says is open to interpretation, each word is selected carefully and vital to the entire piece, and there is no way of knowing what literature will be relevant in the future. Duh.

The parts in the film depicting the court trial pissed me off, and I wanted to go back in time and yell at them. However, this portrayal of the court scenes is a vital part of “Howl”, and it is scary to think of what life could be like today if cases like this hadn’t won.

Scary not only to imagine what literature would be like today, but also to think of how much longer we would have remained repressed from freely expressing the world as we see it.

Classic Rock: The Roar of the Electric Guitar

Gypsy Sun and Rainbows

by Michael Pickett

From the first overdriven guitar sounds of Chuck Berry to the slabs of golden tone from Eddie Van Halen, classic rock guitars are a study unto themselves in the evolution of popular music through the decades.

Naturally, amplification and technology have something to say about the sounds that unfolded from the 60s through the 90s, but cataloging the elements virtuoso players like Jimi Hendrix, Alex Lifeson and the aforementioned Van Halen brought to the party is equally important.

While Scotty Moore fueled Elvis' recordings and Chuck Berry gave us some of the first riff-rock, the Beatles and The Who carved out a niche for themselves with Rickenbacker electrics and 100 watt stacks of Hiwatt amplifiers, respectively.

The Beatles led bands like the Byrds, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and others to mine the Ricky-based sound they initial pioneered (before finding their own way to early overdriven sounds in the studio).

The Who continued to ramp up their guitar sounds with Pete Townsend cranking his Les Paul through stacks of amps live and in the studio. Bands like Cream would find Eric Clapton and solo artists like Jimi Hendrix, Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck firing up hyper-amplified rigs of their own to create signature sounds on pieces like 'Sunshine of Your Love', 'Won't Get Fooled Again' and 'Communication Breakdown'.

From there, the metal thunder of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Rush were just a step away.

As the 70s saw effects pedals (stomp-boxes) powering the rock and metal sounds of Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore, the wah-inflected tone of Michael Schenker and the hot-rodded, insanely great sound of Edward Van Halen, guitarists began to redefine what it meant to have golden tone and achieve the elusive status of 'guitar god'.

But the 80s, while rich with effects boxes and achievable sounds, proved that songwriting and sound were still key, as a thousand bands began to tastelessly imitate the pioneers that had gone before, but without the tone, taste or compositional ability that had made bands like Zeppelin and Van Halen great.

As with all eras, there were still standout artists with superb sounds like U2's The Edge, Def Leppard's Phil Collen and Steve Clark, Journey's Neal Schon and, of course, Alex Lifeson and Eddie Van Halen.

The sounds of guitar would continue to evolve over time, and if you spend even half-an-hour on a classic rock radio station, you'll hear an incredible cross-section of guitar sounds and styles that illustrate a growth in technology and ability over the course of decades.

Love the sound of classic rock? ... check out Pickett's free music at: http://www.m-overdrive.com/pickett.

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Rewearing Comes Of Age

by Ann Brenoff, Senior Writer, The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ann-brenoff/michelle-obama-style-wears-same-outfit_b_2537769.html?utm_source=Alert-blogger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%2BNotifications

Michelle Obama (Wikipedia)

I admit I've never been much of a fashionista. I spent 1968 through 1971 in what I suspect was the same pair of bell bottom jeans and two black T-shirts that I wore in rotation.

In fall, I topped it with a black baggy sweater and in winter, piled on a navy peacoat.

Yes, of course I laundered everything. I might not have any fashion sense, but I've always believed in good grooming.

And now along comes First Lady Michelle Obama, who gives us many reasons to click the Like button in general, but is scoring high marks for one thing in particular of late: She is rewearing some of her clothes. This, the pundits say, gives us all permission to re-wear our clothes.

Now at the risk of being mistaken for the 200-year-old relic Volkswagen in Woody Allen's 1973 classic movie, "Sleeper," did I somehow miss the memo where it said we weren't supposed to wear outfits a second time?

Seriously, when did it become bad form to grab the outfit you wore last Thursday and put it on again this Tuesday - or is this just another one of those generational differences things?

I do believe that the only dumb question is the one you are afraid to ask, but nevertheless I was a little embarrassed to seek an expert on this matter. I decided to keep it in the family, figuring the scorn level would be minimized if I just went to a co-worker.

Here's what Anya Strzemien, the executive editor of HuffPost Style had to say: Yes, people seriously do not re-wear outfits.

"Particularly famous people who are photographed a lot, which is what makes Michelle doing it all the more of a statement," said Anya. "As for the non-famous, it kind of depends on financial circumstances. I think others just try to not wear exactly the same thing too close together."

Anya and me? We travel in different worlds, but probably not as different as you might think. Every generation has its uniform. Mine in the late 1960s were my bell buttons. You saw them - and my long hair parted straight down the middle - and knew my politics instantly.

You looked at my makeup-less face and knew what music I likely listened to. The black T-shirts told you what I read, what movies would appeal to me, and my guitar-strumming bearded boyfriend was as much a fashion accessory as a cup of Starbuck's is today.

Anya, too, has a uniform. Her accessories pop, she has a "go-to" outfit that doesn't involve an elastic waistband, and when she leaves her house every day, she has a put-together look that I wouldn't begin to know how to achieve.

I've always envied women who knew how to combine stylishness with comfort, but deep down I suspect we all sacrifice one for the other. Four-inch heels will never be comfortable, no matter how much you beam your pearly whites at me and claim you could run a marathon in them.

It also occurred to me - as I looked down on the skinny jeans I'm wearing for the third time this week - that for the first time in my life, I may be ahead of a fashion curve. Michelle Obama has made it OK to re-wear your clothes - something I have been doing my whole life.

And now if FLOTUS could just do one more thing for me: Make it OK for us to wear flats for every occasion. After that, we can tackle world hunger, peace in the Middle East and cure cancer once and for all.

Follow Ann Brenoff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AnnBrenoff

OPINION: The 3 Best Traditional Blues Songs of All Time

Cover of Lead Belly

by Joe T Wiseman

I have played in 2 rock and blues bands - Blue Dynamos and Smokin' Joe and the Wolves. We have covered a lot of blues songs and I have written a few of my own.

The question is; which are the 3 best traditional blues songs of all time? Here is my list. I suggest that the top 3 are:

Hellhound on My Trail

Robert Johnson is considered by some to be the greatest bluesman of all time. It is hard to choose which of his songs is the best as there are so many great ones. It is reported that Johnson "sold his soul to the devil" for the ability to play the blues.

This song is representative of his life as Johnson never permanently settled down and is rumoured to have been poisoned to death by a jealous juke joint owner. Robert had a habit of consuming alcohol and picking out a female patron and staring at her during his performances. In this case, the female was the wife of the bar owner and he was pouring the drinks. A bad match for Robert!

This song was the first song on Robert's second and last recording session and was released as a single. Eric Clapton has travelled to the locations of both of Johnson's recording sessions and has tried to replicate his sound. It proved impossible but the 2 Cd's and the DVD that resulted from these sessions are worth the price of acquisition for any lover of the blues.

I'm a King Bee

Written by Slim Harpo and released in 1957, this song contains all of the elements of the form of blues found in many negro clubs in America. That style of blues was highly suggestive and this song is loaded with double entendre. Recorded by many artists including the Rolling Stones on their 1964 debut album, the song is probably Slim's best and most recognized recording. Slim received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2008

Midnight Special

Huddie Ledbetter aka "Lead Belly" was convicted of carrying a pistol for his first offense, of murder for his second offense - was pardoned by the Governor - and for attempted murder for stabbing a man in a fight as a third offense. Although both a folk singer and a bluesman, this song is one of his most memorable and certainly resonates with elements of Leadbelly's colourful life.

This song was really rocked up by the American band Credence Clearwater Revival and introduced to a whole new audience, many of whom had never heard of Leadbelly. Had it not been for folklorists John Lomax and his son Alan, Huddie would most certainly have remained in jail for the remainder of his life. The author is unknown and is likely to have been learned by Leadbelly during his time in prison. It has been recorded by numerous bluesmen.

Whether or not you agree with my picks, there can be no argument that these are some of the best traditional blues songs of all time. If you like blues or folk songs you might also like to check out Smokin' Joe Wiseman at http://www.smokinjoewiseman.com He has covered traditional folk songs and writes his own. Click here http://www.smokinjoewiseman.com/free_song to download a copy of his latest single for free.

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OPINION: The 3 Best Classic Southern Rock Songs of All Time

by Joe T Wiseman

The proof of the greatness of Southern rock music can be found in any music store where re-releases of albums from the past with the label "digital re-master" drives the collector to purchase this great music - one more time!

I have often been involved in discussions about what songs were the greatest. The question is: which are the 3 best Southern classic rock songs of all time? Here is my list. I suggest that the top 3 are:

Free Bird

Lynyrd Skynyrd is arguably the best of the Southern rock bands of the seventies. Had not Ronnie Van Zandt and two other members perished in a plane crash, one can only hazard a guess as to how many more songs would have endured as long as this one.

It is not only a great song but it contains one of the greatest extended guitar solos of any genre. It starts as a ballad and is the only guy-girl love song written by front man Johnnie Van Zandt and guitarist Allen Collins.

It is one of few songs where the title is mentioned only one time but is forever etched in the memory of guitar enthusiasts. Guitar World magazine, in 2008, listed the guitar solo as one of the three greatest of all time in any genre. Sweet Alabama, another Lynyrd Skynyrd song, could easily make this list as well

Can't You See

Released in 1973 by the Marshall Tucker Band and written by band member Toy Caldwell, this song was also the band's first single and peaked at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Waylon Jennings version of the song peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles Chart in 1976. It reached number 1 on the RPM Country charts in Canada.

It is one of the few rock songs, other than Jethro Tull, which feature a flute solo as an intro. It is instantly recognizable because of this solo. It is also virtually impossible to listen to the song in any large gathering without singing along to the solo and rocking your body in time to the beat.

La Grange

"La Grange" was released in 1973 by ZZ Top and is easily one of their most recognized songs. The subject of the song was a brothel in Texas which was later the subject of the movie "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas."

It is unfortunate that ZZ Top never got to play in "Miss Edna's boarding house" in La Grange Texas, nor that their song wasn't in one of the opening scenes in the movie about that illustrious establishment. It certainly stands as a standard of Southern rock and the Gibson Les Paul as the centerpiece of the sound of ZZ Top.

Whether or not you agree with my picks, there can be no argument that these are some of the best Southern Classic rock songs of all time. If you like rock and folk songs you might also like to check out Smokin' Joe Wiseman at http://www.smokinjoewiseman.com He has covered traditional folk and rock songs and writes his own. Click here http://www.smokinjoewiseman.com/free_song to download a copy of his latest single for free.

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OPINION: Who? Three Great Stratocaster Players That Will Surprise You

Cover of Bonnie Raitt

by James L. Flynn

If you know anything about rock and roll guitar, you've heard of the Fender Stratocaster, and you've probably got a pretty good idea as to the identities of the great stratocaster players.

Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, and, of course, Jimi Hendrix usually top the list.

But, as great as these guys are, they've been discussed a lot over the last several decades, and sometimes it can be more fun to look a little off the beaten path and check out some cool players you might not immediately associate with the Strat.

1) Mark Knopfler

What's Mark Knopfler doing on this list? Wasn't he practically known for his iconic Strat tone in the late '70s? Well, yes. One listen to "Sultans of Swing" or "Southbound Again" will instantly tell you exactly what Leo Fender had in mind when he built his first Strat in 1954.

However, I'd argue that Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits had such a monster success in 1984 with "Money for Nothing", which was famously played on a Gibson Les Paul - the anti-Stratocaster - that it obliterated his original tonal identity. Ask most guitarists today and they'll tell you that Knopfler's a Gibson guy.

2) Bonnie Raitt

Unlike Knopfler, Bonnie Raitt has been faithful to her Fender Strat (whether her newer blue signature model or her paint-stripped Old Faithful) for her entire career. However, she's such an incredible singer and song interpreter that I'd wager 75% of her audience doesn't even know she can play guitar.

Too bad for them. Bonnie is one of the two wickedest slide guitarists on the planet, with a sultry, buzzy tone and enough taste to always play only the perfect lick in the perfect spot.

3) Ry Cooder

If Bonnie Raitt is one of the two wickedest slide guitarists on the planet, Ry Cooder is definitely the other one. Ry matches Bonnie's levels of tone and taste, but probably one-ups her in terms of pure technique and assassin's flair: check his intro to "All Shook Up" on Get Rhythm for a clinic on greasy bottleneck aggression.

Ry's main axe is a Frankenstein guitar with a custom neck and the pickup from a WWII-era Oahu lap steel guitar, which he chopped out of its original location and crammed into a sunburst Strat body. Run through a completely tricked-out rig that's reputed to include a reverb spring floating in used motor oil, Ry's Oahu Strat sounds like no other.

Obviously, there are a ton of other great Stratocaster players out there, and you're probably ready to argue with me over the ones I've left out! However, I'm still going to say that if you take the time to check these three out, you won't be disappointed.

If you're a guitar fan who likes to hear solid Stratocaster playing in the context of great songs, you might dig singer/songwriter Radio Nowhere, who's been described as "the missing link between Mark Knopfler and Counting Crows".

Click here to download a free three-pack of Radio Nowhere's best songs.

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OPINION: The 5 Best Bob Dylan Songs Of All Time

Dylan at Azkena Rock Festival (Wikipedia)

by Johnny Clark

Bob Dylan is possibly the greatest singer-songwriter ever, considering the number of the songs he has written and their quality, the mark he has left in music history or the legend he has built around his persona.

It seems that today no journalist would think of challenging his supremacy, and all of his last productions seem to leave them all in awe.

But which are the man's best songs? Let's give this tricky exercise a try, and select what in our opinion are the best Bob Dylan songs.

• "Like A Rolling Stone". You can't get around this one. The lyrics, the flow... Here, Bob Dylan invents "modern rock" with the help of his thin, wild mercury sound. The chaotic instrumentation of the track underlines this story of the decline of a model. Just listen to that incredible organ that ponders through the choruses.


• "Mr. Tambourine Man". In this one, Bob Dylan creates a whole new image for himself: after having been considered as a protest singer, he evolves into the Arthur Rimbaud of American Folk Music and changes the focus of his lyrics from the outside to the inside. "I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade, into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way, I promise to go under it."


• "Not Dark Yet". Bob Dylan is getting old, with a "sense of humanity [that] has gone down the drain." But he is not dead yet. This song is from what is considered to be the album that sealed his comeback to the forefront of music: Time Out Of Mind. The latter's warm reception actually gives the following line tremendous depth and irony: "I can't even remember what it was I came here to get away from."


• "Love Minus Zero/No Limit". This is the perfect example to remind us that Dylan is not just a fantastic writer of lyrics, but also a great composer of tunes. And that one of the foundations of his art is rhythm. This song gives us one of his career defining quotes: "There's no success like failure, and [... ] failure's no success at all."


• "If You Ever Go To Houston". This song captures what Bob Dylan has always been since he changed the course of popular music: a musician trying to embody the heart of American music. The best line of the song being: "If you ever go to Austin, Fort Worth or San Antone, find the bar rooms I got lost in, and send my memories home."

While most consider that the best Bob Dylan songs belong to the sixties, I think it is clear that the songwriter still has a lot to offer. Keep in mind that his latest album is not entitled"The Tempest" but just "Tempest" ...

If you like real music like Bob Dylan's music, and think that he is not dead yet, than you might also want to check out Frans Schuman. He has recorded his first two albums with just a guitar and a harmonica. Some are folk songs, and some have a slightly different feel. But I think you might like it. Click here to download a copy of his latest single for free.

Cheers, Johnny Clark.

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OPINION: The 3 Best Canadian Classic Rock Songs of All Time

Best of Bachman-Turner Overdrive Live (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

by Joe T Wiseman

I have often been involved in discussions about what rock songs, from which country, were the greatest. The question of this article is: which are the 3 best Canadian classic rock songs of all time? Here is my list. I suggest that the top 3 are:

American Woman

It is so quintessentially Canadian, given the notion that we live next door to an elephant, that my first pick would be about an American woman. Released in January of 1970, the song, "American Woman" made its way to the top of the Billboard 100 by March. The Guess Who performed and released the song, written by two of its members, Burton Cummings and Jim Hale, on the album of the same name, and as a single.

The song created quite a stir in the United States as The Guess Who toured, and more and more audiences became aware they were a Canadian rather than an American band. The song was viewed by many as being anti-American. The band was anything, but political, as a perusal of their extensive library of music would quickly reveal. They were lovers and not fighters.

Takin' Care of Business

Released as a single by Bachman Turner Overdrive in 1973 and was written by band leader Randy Bachman, formerly of The Guess Who. Bachman Turner Overdrive were forever linked to this song and its signature riff with echoes of the George Harrison riff in The Beatles song Paperback Writer.

According to Randy Bachman, it was the most licensed song in Sony Music's publishing catalogue. Randy is recognized as one of Canada's premiere guitar players and many of the BTO releases are empowered by Bachman's superior guitar skills.

Needle and the Damage Done

Neil Young continues to rock away after decades of fabulous music, this song still resonates as one of his best. The imagery of the damage done by the needle and the idea that "every junkie's like a setting sun" caught the folk-rock world by surprise. The song was written about one of the members of Neil's band Crazy Horse who was an addict.

Neil released Danny Whitten from the band because of his heroin addiction and Danny died of an overdose shortly after. Neil went on to play in some legendary bands including Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Neil is a legend of rock and roll and folk-rock in particular. His songs and albums are legendary in the genre of Classic Rock.

Whether or not you agree with my picks, there can be no argument that these are some of the best Canadian classic rock songs of all time. If you like folk rock songs you might also like to check out Smokin' Joe Wiseman at http://www.smokinjoewiseman.com.

He has covered traditional folk songs and writes his own folk and rock. Click here http://www.smokinjoewiseman.com/free_song to download a copy of his latest single for free.

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OPINION: The 3 Best American Classic Rock Songs of All Time

Bob Dylan in Toronto, 1980 (Wikipedia)

by Joe T Wiseman

The proof of the greatness of the classic rock genre can be found in any music store where re-releases of albums from the past with the label "digital re-master" drives the collector to purchase this great music - one more time!

I have often been involved in discussions about what songs were the greatest. The question is; which are the 3 best American classic rock songs of all time? Here is my list. I suggest that the top 3 are:

Like a Rolling Stone

Bob Dylan, in addition to being a prolific songwriter has written songs in multiple genres including rock and roll. Written in 1965 it was the centerpiece of the Highway 61 Revisited album and despite being over 6 minutes long it rose to the number 2 position on the Billboard charts.

The song, with Al Kooper's strong keyboard, the strong guitar groove changed Dylan forever from a folk artist to a force in electric rock music. His folk audience turned on him and Dylan and his electric band were booed by audiences expecting acoustic folk anthems.

Dylan was once more on the leading edge of change and "Like a Rolling Stone" was the vanguard of an electric sound and lyrics that were bitter and sharp on the individual level as opposed to the global. "How does it feel, to be on your own, no direction home, like a rolling stone." Once again, Dylan was at the vanguard of new forms in the music of the baby-boomer generation.

Hotel California

Released as a single by The Eagles in 1977, from the album of the same name, "Hotel California" quickly became one of the most well known songs of that time. Written during a time of excess and success for popular rock bands, this song is a snapshot of that era.

The song was co-written by Don Felder, Don Henley and Glenn Frey. Henley's strong vocals and the superb dual lead guitar work makes Hotel California an exciting and interesting listen for rock enthusiasts.

It held the Billboard chart's number 1 position for a week, was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and received a Grammy Award for Record of the Year. It is also one of Rock and Roll's Hall of Fame for 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.

Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

With his blazing fingers and ability to portray emotion through his guitar Jimi Hendrix dominated the era of the electric guitar, the classic rock era, and this song allowed Jimi to shown off those monumental talents. It is the last track on Electric Ladyland, Hendrix's third and last album.

It is almost as if he purposely saved the best for last. Artists like Joe Satriani refer to it as the best guitar solo of all time. The melody is based loosely on the great Muddy Water's song "Catfish Blues."

The album also has a longer, jam style version called "Voodoo Chile." Of all the great Hendrix solos, this one trumps them all. Audiences got to hear versions up to 18 minutes in length when they were among the lucky ones who got to enjoy Jimi live and in his prime.

Whether or not you agree with my picks, there can be no argument that these are some of the best American classic rock songs of all time. If you like rock songs you might also like to check out Smokin' Joe Wiseman at http://www.smokinjoewiseman.com

He has covered traditional rock songs and writes his own. Click here http://www.smokinjoewiseman.com/free_song to download a copy of his latest single for free.

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The 3 Best English Classic Rock Songs of All Time

Pink Floyd at Earls Court, 1973 (Wikipedia)

by Joe T Wiseman

There were many songs my bands would have liked to play but were too complex for our part time efforts.

I have often been involved in discussions about what songs were the greatest. The question is: which are the 3 best English classic rock songs of all time? Here is my list.

I suggest that the top 3 are:

Stairway to Heaven

Led Zepplin, originally formed as The Yardbirds, became one of the greatest of all English rock bands and "Stairway to Heaven" was their crowning achievement. The song anchored their 4th album which was one of the greatest selling albums in rock history.

Never released as a single, "Stairway to Heaven" is still one of the most heavily requested of all rock FM stations in the world. Jimmy Page eclipsed every other solo he had performed as a member of The Yardbirds or led Zeppelin with the brilliant guitar work in this song.

The song is over 8 minutes long, thus no AM radio release, begins as a slow acoustic style folk ballad and climaxes as a driving, electric, uptempo, rock classic. It would be difficult to find another rock song as intricately woven and musically complex as this one. It rises above them all!

Comfortably Numb

David Gilmour and Roger Waters agonized over the chord progression for this song. Waters wanted the (Bm) (A) (G) (Em) progression and Gilmour wanted the (D) (A) (C) (G) progression. The result is one of the greatest compromises of rock history co-writing.

The verses are in the (Bm) progression and chechorus is in the (D) progression. "Comfortably Numb" is the anchor of the epic "The Wall" album, the crowning achievement for Pink Floyd. The guitar solos of David Gilmour on this song are the best ever delivered by the band and makes it the most memorable of dozens of great Pink Floyd songs.

Imagine

John Lennon wrote or co-wrote many songs with Paul McCartney as a member of The Beatles. This song, at the epitamy of his solo career, is without doubt, the best of his illustrious career as a songwriter and performer. It was the best selling single of his solo career.

The song challenged the listener to imagine a world without organized religion, without a focus on possessions, without war, with a brotherhood of man, living for today. Lennon's humanism and view of a utopian world was all revealed at its best in this classic song.

It earned a Grammy Hall of Fame Award and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of "500 Hundred Songs That Shaped rock and Roll."

Whether or not you agree with my picks, there can be no argument that these are some of the best English classic rock songs of all time. If you like rock songs you might also like to check out Smokin' Joe Wiseman at http://www.smokinjoewiseman.com He has covered rock and folk songs and writes his own. Click here http://www.smokinjoewiseman.com/free_song to download a copy of his latest single for free.

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